Northern Steps of EU Enlargement: The Impact of “Cohesion” Policies on Iceland’s Accession Process

This paper focuses on the EU accession process of Iceland, reading the latest northern steps of EU enlargement under a “cohesion” perspective, i.e., through the lens of the cohesion “theory”, namely the method resulting from interactions of the general principles of subsidiarity and cooperation or partnership. From the Mediterranean to the Arctic, the territorial dimension of cohesion policies, as grounded in different EU policies, plays different roles and meets a wide range of economic and social needs. By implementing Nordicum-Mediterraneum analogies, a cohesion-minded EU enlargement approach requires the overall reframing of territorial-based policies and a better allocation of shared responsibilities at the more efficient level of governance.